THUNDER BAY, Ont. – Hundreds of geeks, nerds and fans attending this weekend’s ThunderCon event at the Valhalla Inn will be coming from outside of city.

This year ThunderCon organizers put significant effort into attracting internationally recognized keynote guests, including Robert Picardo (Star Trek Voyager; Stargate), along with making other event improvements. These efforts may pay off, as nearly half of the online pre-registered attendees are coming from outside the city.

“Going into the third year we knew we had to take the risk and go big, or become a stagnant event that inevitably dulls over time,” said Rob Kilgour, Chair of ThunderCon Executive. “With the help of City Tourism Manager Paul Pepe and the City of Thunder Bay, ThunderCon has garnered so much attention beyond our borders. It’s pretty darn exciting when you have Klingons from Minnesota coming to your Con!”

Kilgour adds the event’s improvements couldn’t have been possible without the Northern Ontario Heritage Corporation, which generously contributed a $12,300 grant.

“I’m thrilled that through the NOHFC, our government is able to support thriving independent events likeThunderCon that help bolster tourism here in the Northwest and provide unique opportunities forNortherners that would otherwise be unavailable,” said Michael Gravelle, Minister of Northern Development and Mines and Chair of the NOHFC.

“Congratulations to the organizers of Thundercon on their third annual event,” said Bill Mauro, MPP for Thunder Bay Atikokan. “It continues to grow and exceed the expectations of the organizers themselves. It’s events like this that help build community and strengthen our local economy. I’m pleased that our government was able to provide a Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation grant to support this great weekend.”

ThunderCon takes place this SATURDAY Sept. 23 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. and SUNDAY Sept. 24 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Valhalla Inn.

ATTENTION ASSIGNMENT EDITORSMedia passes for your organization will be set aside for your reporting staff. Please instruct staff covering the event to check in at the front desk at anytime Saturday or Sunday to retrieve a weekend pass.

Unfortunately I will not be attending this year because of the price - in speaking to other families this was a common complaint. $30 to look around seems a bit much. Best of luck.

Reply

Margaret

9/24/2017 12:40:04 am

I spent 4 hours with my granddaughter and my nephew's son at Thundercon (first time going). My nephew's son had purchased a VIP bracelet along with the entry bracelet. Those volunteers at the pay table had not given him a gift bag and they had no idea to what is involved with a VIP ticket when I realized that he had one. We had asked the other volunteers what he get for having a VIP bracelet and everyone we asked had no idea/no answers. I was amazed (pun in amazed) of the lack of communication, organization to when it came to finding out about the VIP bracelet. WOW I was blown away that all he received was a gift bag, that at least the VIP's should of received more than a bag of gift (T-shirt men's size L for a 11 year old). At least VIP should of been treat to meet the guest Robert Picardo!​, Chuck Huber, Kevin Porter and others in person with an autograph from his favourite actor (autograph cost $40). Unfortunately my eldest grandson wants to go next year (he couldn't make it this year) cause this would of been the last time for me going. (THUMBS DOWN -OVER PRICED -VIP bracelet is a joke - Volunteer is not informed.)

I apologize that the volunteers at registration didn’t give your nephew’s son a VIP bag - they certainly should have. They have been working round the clock to help thousands of guests and this is the first slip up on their part so it was bound to happen once. If you had returned to the registration desk, they would have happily given him the gift bag with profuse apologies for their mistake. They are amazing and wonderful young women that way. Volunteers at the door wouldn’t know VIP details, but should have pointed you back to registration.

And yes, re: T-shirts, we had a local supplier who was going to allow us a choice of sizing for the shirts but the company pulled out at the last minute, forcing us to find another alternative from out of town. He wasn’t able to meet the demands on such a short amount of time and could only give us XLs. We were grateful for him stepping in and have made a solid connection with him for next year, where everyone will be able to select their own size for VIP.

Autographs from all other celebrities were free of charge - only Mr. Picardo charges for them. Mr. Porter and Ms. Lemay only charge $5 for the photographs they sign if someone doesn’t have a picture of their own. Next year, we’d like to arrange more preferential treatment for the VIP purchasers but couldn’t manage it for this year. It was not included in the description of the VIP upgrade, only T-shirt, pin, gifts and coupons.

And lastly, price. The cost to rent the entire convention centre alone for the weekend is almost cost-prohibitive. I will not tell you how much it cost to bring in a guest on the level of Mr. Picardo. This is a hugely expensive event to run and all of us are volunteers. No one gets paid. We do it out of the love of fandom and the delight of seeing people have fun in community. The door cost is so much less than at any other convention and if we continue to draw in guests of this calibre, the cost is more than fair. It’s actually a steal.

We are only in our third year, still discovering the bumps on the road. This year has been a huge gamble for us and we hope we will be able to bring a fourth, and then a fifth, etc. With the local community working with us, supporting us and helping steer us where we are weak, ThunderCon could possibly live long and prosper.